IRVINE, Calif. – The CUI men's soccer team moved into third place in the conference standings on Saturday after defeating the University of Hawai'i Hilo by a margin of 3-0. The Eagles were looking to build on their previous overtime victory against Hawaii Pacific on Halloween and have now won back-to-back home games.
Vicente Flores, the sophomore midfielder, applied pressure early and often against the Vulcans. Flores saw four attempts at the net in the first 45 minutes of play but could not convert a goal. The Green and Gold attackers had eight total looks at the net in the first half but unfortunately only two of those attempts were on target.
Hawai'i Hilo had six shots of their own in the first half with three being on target. Concordia's keeper
Mac Hutchins was able to earn three saves before the break.
After a slow first half and beginning to the second half, the Eagles turned up the heat when sophomores
Luke Ryan and
Bryan Lopez entered the game with about 22 minutes remaining in the match.
In the 70th minute, Ryan was able to box out his defender to receive a cross from Lopez which resulted in the first goal of the day for the CUI men's soccer squad 1-0 lead. But Ryan was not finished.
Less than 10 minutes later, in the 78th minute, Ryan net another goal after shielding off defenders and powering the ball right past the hands of the keeper into the top right corner of the mesh. The lead was pushed to 2-0 in favor of the Eagles.
"This win felt good," said Ryan. "I haven't performed like I wanted to the past few games and I had a nagging injury so I did not think I would play today. But I got in with about 20 minutes to go and I did what I needed to do and luckily I finished my opportunities."
In the closing 10 minutes of the match Concordia put a dagger in the Vulcans with
Jose Huerta scoring off an assist from both
Michael Oakson and
Willy Ospina.
"We played very exciting fútbol and I am proud of the team's performance as well as our execution," said Huerta. "Although I am happy with my first goal on the season, it would not have happened without my team's effort. We came out strong and our hard work paid off."
Hutchins completed the shutout with eight saves and CUI took the 3-0 victory over UHH.
For the full schedule of the CUI men's soccer team, click here.
